I wanted to gauge any interest, design ideas, compliments or criticism, that people might have about this story and design for WAKE.

I have delete the story in this post to make this post shorter and easier to read. To read the story about WAKE, please visit this link: WAKE Storyline

If I were to describe WAKE in one sentence of descriptors, it would be: Mass Effect meets I Am Legend meets Singularity (Video Game) meets Life After People (History Channel Show).

Here is a the demo's play-out. I hope this gives a good idea of how the game progresses, and the story too.

WAKE:

Evolution through Extinction

Scene 1 (INTRO)

Characters: Assumed to be “ThePlayer", Duffy, and Ziggy in every scene, until otherwise noted.

Items of Interest (IOI): Journal

Puzzles: NoneHidden Object Games (HOG):None

Goal:

-The player meets Ziggy and Duffy after waking from hyper-sleep.

Possible actions:

-Player can collect IOI journal

-Player can continue onto the next section

Notes:

-A journal can be collected next to a skeleton in a broken hyper-space
pod. The journal reads:

“Something is trying to break in: I’ve got no clue what it is. The door
seems sturdy enough, but there’s no food or water in here. I’m trapped, and the
only way out seems to be to sleep through this nightmare. The sign on the wall
says ‘stasis’, and there are a couple people in these pods. It all seems
remarkably straightforward, but I still pray that I am calibrating my pod
correctly. I don’t want to die.

Scene 2 (“Letting it all sink in”)

Items of Interest (IOI): Yes– via HOG

Puzzles: No

Hidden Object Games (HOG): Yes

Goal:

-Leave the hyper-stasis room and see what the outside world has become.

Possible actions:

-HOG

-Player can talk to Ziggy and Duffy to learn more about them and what

they have seen on Earth so far

-Player can continue to the next section once specific items have been

collected that will aid in exploration

Notes:

- HOG, where the player collects various objects from a scene that has

alien tools and devices from the expedition team. The expedition team has
collected some trinkets, odds, and ends, that they have stored here that adds
to the scene

Scene 3 (“Had to see it with my own two eyes”)

Items of Interest (IOI): Time
Capsule via HOG

Puzzles: No

Hidden Object Games (HOG): Yes

Goal:

-Rummage through the debris and pick up the time capsule, before
proceeding.

Possible actions:

-HOG

-After time capsule is recovered during HOG, player can proceed to the
next area

Notes:

-The HOG has several items that appear to have recently fallen out of a
busted time capsule. The player must find a vial with a note, among other items
(including a cell phone), before proceeding. The note reads;

“Hello from Westfall Elementary class of 2024. We are excited to leave
for you a few original drawings and writings from our students, and a small
stash of our time’s precious technology. It is our hope that the creativity of
our class will inspire whoever should find this, and that the technology will
leave you in awe of the progress of mankind. The world you see before you now
is thanks, in no small part, to the students of 2024.”

Duffy expresses interest in the phone, telling you to hold on to it. It
will offer a vital interface with human technology that may be encountered. He
uses his scanner to reprogram and configure the phone and hands it back to the
player.

Scene 4 (“Put a fork in it”)

*Area splits into three paths; easy, medium, and hard. The Demo has a
set path*

Items of Interest (IOI): No

Puzzles: No

Hidden Object Games (HOG): No

Goal:

-Choose a path; easy, medium, or hard. In the demo, the player will be

taking the medium route (streets).

Possible actions to achieve
goal:

-Player can proceed to the next area

Notes:

-None

Scene5 (“Paleontology is not my strong suit”)

*Area is a HUB for several side locations that are of importance in
completing the puzzle in this scene*

Items of Interest (IOI): Yes

Puzzles: Yes

Hidden Object Games: No

Goal:

-The incomplete skeleton of some massive creature lies in a bed of
wires. Somehow, the wires are still electrified. That mystery is secondary to
finding a way to cross. To complete the puzzle, the player must complete the
skeleton to crawl over it and reach the other side of the electrified ground.

Possible actions to achieve
goal:

-Proceed to side-scenes where bones can be collected to complete the
skeleton

-Player can explore a derelict combat tank, and a makeshift shelter for
refugees

-Player can proceed to the next area when the skeleton is complete

Notes:

-The pieces of the skeleton must be found. Using a multi-purpose device
of Duffy’s the player can attach magnets to these pieces and place them into
the skeleton from a safe distance. With all of the pieces collected and
attached, the player can cross the electrified bed and reach the other side.

-The IOI’s in this scene are bones hidden within the landscape

Scene4a (“Tanks for the memories”)

Items of Interest (IOI): Yes

Puzzles: No

Hidden Object Games: Yes

Goal:

-The tank hatch is sealed, but unlocked. The player must open the top
and look inside. The light shines in, revealing an array of items. The player
must find the bones in this section, and return to Scene 4.

Possible actions to achieve
goal:

-Player can examine the national emblem on the tank by clearing mold
and dirt

-Player can engage in HOG

-Player can return to Scene 4

Notes:

-One IOI is the emblem on the tank. When the player cleans it off, they
discover that the tank has the flag of Britain on it. Yet, the marquee in Scene
4b states that this location is in America.

-The other IOI’s in this scene are several bones hidden in the tank or
the landscape outside of the tank.

Scene 4b (“Help never came”)

Items of Interest (IOI): Yes

Puzzles: No

Hidden Object Games: Yes

Goal:

-Find bones in refugee structure via the HOG and landscape around it.
Then return to Scene 4.

Possible actions:

-Player can interact with an IOI, which is a marquee that has fallen
from a wall, and lies on the floor.

-Player can interact with an IOI, which is a message scrawled on the
wall of the shelter.

-Player can search the scene for additional bones

-Player can engage in HOG to discover more bones

-Player can return to Scene 4

Notes:

-One IOI is an old marquee lying on the ground. A message is faintly
burned into the marquee from prolonged use. It reads, “Breaking News: Chaos as”.
With the message cut off, Duffy tells the player that he can use the repurposed
cell phone to wirelessly interface with the device. The phone can use this
interface to translate the data stored into the text that once flashed on this
marquee screen. It reads, “Breaking News: Chaos as the government of our United
States has officially dissolves into a state of martial law. All remaining citizens
are advised to flee high density population areas.”

-Another IOI is a message scrawled on the wall; “Jen Barrister (Heart +
“4ever”) Desmond. I have to get the children to safety. Find us. You know how
to follow the bread crumbs. Remember, I love you!

-The other IOI’s in this scene are several bones hidden the HOG and
shop

===========================================================

**With all pieces of the skeleton found, the player can arrange them to
complete the skeleton and continue on**

============================================================

Scene 5 (“Let there be light”)

Items of Interest (IOI): Yes

Puzzles: Yes

Hidden Object Games: Yes

Goal:

-A large metal door is blocking your progress. The player must find a
way around it to continue.

Possible actions:

-Player can interact with several solar panels

-Player can interact with a tin roof that casts a shadow over the solar
panels

-Player can interact with an old, but seemingly functional generator
near the large door

-Player can proceed to a side-area (Scene 5a)
-Player can formulate a solution to the puzzle, which would open the

door and allow the player to continue on in their search for answers

Notes:

-The player can choose several interactions with each solar panel. Only
one does anything that helps the player solve the puzzle, which is cleaning the
solar panels off.

-The player will only receive a message when interacting with the tin
roof. “This roof looks thin, but too sturdy to pull down. It’s casting a shadow
over these solar panels.” The player, remembering the all-purpose tool of Duffy’s,
may note that the tool shot the magnets out at a reasonable velocity. The
player can talk to Duffy about this tool, and discuss the velocity of the
magnets. This will lead the player to being able to ask if the tool could punch
holes through the tin roof covering the solar panels. Duffy will allow the
player to use the tool to punch holes in the roof, allowing rays of light to
fall on the solar panels.

This will allow the solar panels to charge the generator. The generator
powers up, but does not seem to open the door. Duffy notices that a connector
is a converter is busted at the base of the generator. A new converter can be
found in the nearby HOG. With this converter, the door can be opened. The generator
needs to be interfaced with, via the phone that the player is carrying. With
the door open, the player can proceed into the building.

Scene 5 (“Desmond’s Pawn Shop”)

Items of Interest (IOI): Yes

Puzzles: No

Hidden Object Games: Yes

Goal:

-Explore this scene for anything of interest.

Possible actions:

-The player can explore this shop

-The player can interact with various items

-The player can interact with a Painting to get a clue

-The player can explore a HOG in this scene to receive a critical item
(converter)

-The player can return to Scene 5

Notes:

-An IOI can be found in the HOG in this scene (converter).

-The painting is an IOI that, when interacted with, shows that the
artist is “Jennifer Barrister”. The player can also flip the painting around
for a message that reads; “I knew you’d come looking for answers here first, in
your shop. Find the place where the two lines converge. The place we parted
every morning and reunited every evening. There lies a room with a key pad
lock. The code is simple, but only you could know it. Remember what you said to
me when you decided to open the shop here in Astoria? You said, “Location,
location, location.” Turn the painting back when you are done. I don’t want
someone… or something following you.

END OF DEMO

So - do you like it?

Let me know if you'd like additional information, or what you think about the potential of a project like this! I am open to anything, be it interest in helping, or just thoughts and opinions. PM me or reply in this thread. Thanks!

I am open to anything, be it interest in helping, or just thoughts and opinions. PM me or reply in this thread.

Aspire,

Recruiting is not permitted in our discussion forums. That's what the Classifieds are for. I'm not locking this thread at this time, but you came perilously close to crossing the line here.

Edit: I edited the title of this thread so as to step it farther back from the line.

My apologies, Tom. Wont happen again. I had some earlier confusion with the classifieds and made a post about it. I think I see where I was confused though. Would it be ok if I can delete this, and post it later there in the classifieds?

A game needs game play. This is where your going to have your meat and potatoes of a story get chopped down into 4$ steak with some instant mash potatoes.

To be blunt and honest, its a decent story-ish... almost like a HALO meets PROTOTYPE meets aliens style. But how are you going to convey this. What are your plans? What mechanics are you going to use to carry the story forward. If your character is introduced too early and being full of life to early your game gets stale because there is no challange. Yet, if you do it too late you have the issue of boredom from non-character progression.

The story could work, but the arc of the story vs the gameplay is going to have to be redone. I say this because your going to have to make some decisions on your game play elements and ensuring your making a game and not just an interactive movie (AKA FF13.)

Since this is in the Game Design forum,

You told us the story, start discussing the ideas of play. What format are you exploring? An interactive story? A top down survival shooter? What year is this set in? Is it a flight simulator? Maybe a Parkour style like Mirrors edge..

Give a little more on the subject of the game and a little less on the story. Remember, in games everything has to be flexible. Including the story. It will more than likely change from iteration to iteration based on gameplay and how it flows.

As cool as this dramatic story line is, the attention span of players is how fast can I hit the X button bypass this story. Story games seldom get the attention they need/deserve mainly because people just don't have the patience to explore it. So how can you translate your story from Story to Game.

I usually just give my 2 cents, but since most of the people I meet are stubborn I give a 1$ so my advice isn't lost via exchange rate.

Thanks, Mayple. Here is a short depiction of the demo and how it is structured. Being a hidden object and puzzle, point and click adventure, the game is a static 2D or isometric 2D, based on various scenes.

Player requests to see the outside world and find answers to
why the world as we knew it had ended.

Scene 3: (View outside of the rubble, overlooking an ancient
city)

Players sees world as it is and his resolve is strengthened –
to find answers.

Scene 4: (The player sees several options for exploration
into the city, including what appears to be a school, an old street, or a
sinkhole that leads into the ancient sewers, which may be easier to traverse
than the others. For the sake of the demo, only one route is available, the
streets.)

Scene 5: (The player proceeds down the street)

The buildings have buckled and listed. Husks of cars line
the streets. A great age ended long ago.

The street is blocked and a rusted old door needs to be
opened in a nearby building to continue. A tin roof covers some old solar
panels and a generator. The user, first, must clean off the debris covering the
solar panels. Then, they must find a way to get sunlight through the roof
panels. Since the solar panels are bolted to the ground, and the roofing is
thin, but sturdy, the player must devise a way to puncture small holes into the
roof, using a device that the aliens are carrying with them. This device fires
small transmitters that help to map locations in three dimensions. They are
fired at a high enough velocity to reach high points, or puncture through a
nearby tin roof.

With light shining through to the solar panels, the
generator begins to power up, allowing the player to proceed once the door
opens.

**This is the end of the first part of the demo. A second,
demonstrating the hidden object aspects will follow**

Many who want to design a game actually start to design a story. It is always hard to define a story first and then add a game to it later. A game adds a lot of user interaction and decision to the experience and suddenly the whole story falls apart. This is due to the freedom of action the player got, if you try to press the player into the story, you need to take away the possibility of interact with the world and eventually you have a movie. Therefor, if you want to tell a story, try to use an other media first, e.g. a comic, book , movie.

On the other hand, a strong story line isn't wrong. There are some really successful narrative driven game (Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Heavy Rain) and a point and click adventure isn't a bad start either. But the story board you presented is too much focused on story, there are (almost) no puzzels, tasks, quests which would justify a game. Currently I could run through the scenes in one minute and the demo is over. Think of puzzels, think of game play, think of Portal, a game which is heavily based on puzzels and (almost) no story.

I think I am misrepresenting something. There will be hidden objects in most frames, hopefully. And puzzles in virtually every other frame. It wouldn't simply be a series of pictures. But I understand your concern, and appreciate the heads up. I will just focus that much more on making sure a puzzle and hidden object feature is in essentially ever frame, to some capacity.

Actually, I think that is an outdated flowchart of the demo. Actually, it definitely is. I need to find what happened to the newer one. That added a lot of details to the initital frames.

There's a problem with how you discuss player actions. You describe them as scripted, not interactive. You cannot dictate the player's actions and emotional states.

Player's possible actions: examine newspaper, open drawer, open door, open blinds, pick up blaster. Opening door takes player to the street.

Goal for this scene: find answers.

In the street the player can explore the following: dumpster, wrecked house, parking garage, parked aircar, intact house, restaurant with smashed front window. Exploring aircar permits player to take off and fly.

See, a game is not like a movie. It's interactive. You have to describe it that way.

-- Tom SloperSloperama ProductionsMaking games fun and getting them done.www.sloperama.com

Please do not PM me. My email address is easy to find, but note that I do not give private advice.

There's a problem with how you discuss player actions. You describe them as scripted, not interactive. You cannot dictate the player's actions and emotional states.

Player's possible actions: examine newspaper, open drawer, open door, open blinds, pick up blaster. Opening door takes player to the street.

Goal for this scene: find answers.

In the street the player can explore the following: dumpster, wrecked house, parking garage, parked aircar, intact house, restaurant with smashed front window. Exploring aircar permits player to take off and fly.

See, a game is not like a movie. It's interactive. You have to describe it that way.

Awesome advice! Thanks for stating that so clearly. I will edit the scenes with that in mind so that I am not describing it as if it was a fully-scripted event.

Here is the new format I will try using. Let me know if this makes more sense and is more professional and explanatory. I will edit the original post when I've got the new scene format finished.

Ok, I've edited the original post so that, after the synopsis, a detailed representation of all the scenes in the demo is displayed. I hope you guys like it. All advice or interest is very welcome. Thanks!